#excelsior class refit

[tmblriscompleteshit]

Enterprise Beta - art by Jetfreak-7

[alphamecha-mkii]

Queen Bee by Jetfreak-7

[chernobog13]

A size comparison of some Federation starships of note.

[defconprime]

[lordmartiya]

Something I've been wondering about Starfleet in TNG and the pre-Dominion contact part of DS9: why are the Oberths, Mirandas, Excelsiors, and contemporary ships still in active Starfleet service? I get why they would be around after Starfleet discovered the existence of the Dominion, they would need ships to fill the ranks while they mass-produce the anti-Borg fleet (and when Voyager comes back, they'd be still recovering), but before that they have positively ancient ships, using technology almost a century old and worn down frames, in active service against serious danger (unless they're patrolling the Talarian border. Those guys' energy weapons were phased out of Starfleet before the original Constitution even started being designed, and EARTH Starfleet had developed better ordnance before the Xindi attack). And I'm not the only one who noticed, a plot point in one of the novels was that Picard's Stargazer, a Constellation-class starship using Constitution refit components, had an insane maintenance schedule, with the prosecutor at the Stargazer trial claiming that Picard is to blame for the loss because he should have instead recommended the ship for decommission and the admiralty shutting down the whole thing.

And before anyone brings up the Klingon... Between Praxis wrecking their economy and logistics (their decision to clean up Qo'nos rather than Mass evacuate is admirable, but it cost them), their perennial infighting, and the occasional Romulan raid, they didn't really have the means to develop and build multiple classes to replace the K'tingas and old birds of prey until Gowron got in charge (and quite conspicuously, his fleet in "The Way of the Warrior" includes numerous Vor'cha-class cruisers of multiple variants and a brand-new ship alongside the birds of prey and clearly refitted K'tingas). I don't really like them, but I can't really blame them here.

The Klingon clearly had a reason and started fixing that the moment they could, but what's Starfleet's excuse?

[startreksetplans]

A lack of Constitution class in TNG?

This is Head canon / Non Canon - These are my thoughts as to why why the Constitution class doesn't continue into TNG, but Miranda and Oberth do.

When the Excelsior broke the then maximum warp-barrier, it created the new Warp speed scale we see in TNG. This "TransWarp" would eventually become the standard default over time, leading it to be shortened to "Warp" For any starship class to remain viable in this new era of speed, it had to be on par with at least the low to medium end of the new scale.

Naturally Starfleet sought to do a fleet wide refit, but not all the ships were suitable. The stresses of the new warp speed were greater than most had been developed for.

The Miranda class was relatively recent, with a more modern and robust hull. Also its compact shape required a smaller warp bubble, allowing the new warp systems to work within the class's power limits.

It takes time to design a new type of starship - especially with such a big warp technology shift. This is why there are so many Miranda variants and off-shoot classes. It is simpler to build up the fleet from a known design as a base.

The Oberth class is a small compact ship, and so like the Miranda class, it had smaller warp bubble power requirements. It survives all the way into TNG because of its ability to be retrofitted for the new warp tech - swapped out the coils, core and control systems.

Obeths are not an ideal starship - as well as its well known lack of modern defences, its systems had a habit of burning out under strain. Almost all Oberth ships at one time or another had to be towed back to Spacedock.

Starfleet should have replaced these ships with something more robust, and maybe they tried. Its possible that the Oberth replacement was ready to go, after the usual extensive and expensive development period. But what if it was developed before the Excelsior? The replacement class may have not been compatible with TransWarp.

Starfleet would have been left with a science ship design that would have far less warp performance than its upgraded predecessor. In the end, upgrading the Oberth class was the only possible option. Also with the sunk costs into the replacement, there would be less of a desire to restart the design process for another Oberth successor. Ultimately keeping the Oberth class ships running as long as possible would be a more economic move.

The Constitution class is a very old ship by this point. It had already had been refitted to the maximum speed the space-frame could handle. It would have torn itself apart at TransWarp, which is why the "Great Experiment" opted for a new ship over the reliable Constitution.

With its duties to be assigned to faster ships, it could have still limped on working within Federation space, but it would have been well over-spec and over staffed for these lesser duties.

With the end of Klingon hostilities, Starfleet took the opportunity to decommission ships that couldn't be upgraded. It would be many years before it was possible to design Constitution style vessels that could withstand the new warp scale - culminating in the Ambassador class.

[electronickingdomfox]

Star Trek TOS ships. Part 3

Final post, this one centered on ships from the six TOS movies. First part (human ships from the series) here. Second part (alien ships from the main series plus TAS) here.

THE MOTION PICTURE

Enterprise NCC-1701 refit

Technically the same ship from the series but upgraded. Just including it for the new look.

Surak

The long range shuttle that Spock uses to travel from Vulcan to the Enterprise. Apparently, it has the absurdly long registry VS-5047-61192259584-5, though that's not clearly seen on-screen (did Spock write his whole credit card number on the shuttle?).

Dreadnought Entente NCC-2120, Scout USS Columbia NCC-621, Scout Revere NCC-595, and the long range shuttle Laika

The names of these are only heard in background radio chatter at the Epsilon IX station.

Imperial Klingon Cruiser Amar

The Klingon battlecruiser that leads the attack against V'ger at the beginning, being destroyed like the other two Klingon ships. The name is faintly heard in the transmission to Epsilon IX. This new model of Klingon ship was identified as a K't'inga class in the novelization, though that name wasn't canonized until "Strange New Worlds".

THE WRATH OF KHAN

USS Reliant NCC-1864

The first time a different Federation starship model (that is, different from the Enterprise) is seen in live Trek. Commanded by Captain Terrell, with Chekov as First Officer. This ship was helping Dr. Marcus in her research, by exploring candidate planets for the Genesis project. They had the bad luck of mistaking Ceti Alpha V for Ceti Alpha VI...

THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

USS Excelsior NX-2000

A new prototype starship equipped with transwarp drive, commanded by Captain Styles. Sent to intercept the Enterprise, though it didn't come too far. It will return in the last film with registry NCC-2000, under Captain Sulu.

USS Grissom NCC-638

The ship that transported Saavik and David to Genesis, to investigate the new planet. It was destroyed by the Klingon Bird-of-Prey.

Civilian freighter

A ship hired by the Klingon Valkris to rendezvous with the Bird-of-Prey and deliver classified Federation reports on Genesis. Destroyed afterwards. This ship is never named on the film, but the script refers to it as "Merchantman".

Bird-of-Prey

A new model of Klingon ship. Later hijacked by Kirk, and renamed "HMS Bounty" in the fourth film, to replace the destroyed Enterprise. The villains in the early script were Romulans, not Klingons, and that's where the name "Bird-of-Prey" originated. However, the ship seen in the movie is definitely of Klingon design, and anyways, Romulan ships had never been called "bird-of-preys" officially at this point.

THE VOYAGE HOME

USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A

The new Enterprise given to Kirk at the end of the movie. Very similar to the refit version. Do they have a bunch of these in store in case Kirk blows shit up?

USS Saratoga NCC-1887

A ship patrolling near the Neutral Zone, that first encounters the alien probe and is disabled by it. It uses the same model of the Reliant from TWOK.

Ship in spacedock

Visible at the end of the film, when the crew travels across the spacedock to come aboard the new Enterprise (right before the glimpse of the Excelsior). Behind-the-scenes sources say this ship was called USS Copernicus, and had the registry NCC-640, but none of this is visible or mentioned on-screen. It uses the same model of the Grissom from TSFS.

Yorktown

A ship attacked by the probe, though its exterior is never seen. Could it be the same Yorktown mentioned in Obsession?

USS Shepard

Mentioned in a background distress call at Starfleet Command. It seems this ship was disabled by the probe as well.

Apart from all this, a display graphic at the spacedock shows the registry NCC-1707, and unused dialogue associated with this scene mentioned a new USS Intrepid (to replace the one from The Immunity Syndrome, I suppose). However, the graphic's contents were only known thanks to prop collectors, and are absolutely illegible in the film. So I consider this NCC-1707 (Intrepid?) as one which didn't make the cut.

THE FINAL FRONTIER

Shuttle 5 "Galileo"

The shuttle that picks up Kirk, Spock and McCoy at their camping site. It was later forced to do an emergency landing in the hangar, after being attacked by the Klingons.

Shuttle 3 "Copernicus"

The shuttle used by Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sybok to reach Sha Ka Ree. It seems that the Enterprise-A's shuttles are named just as the shuttles from the original Enterprise.

Klaa's Bird-of-Prey

The ship used by the Klingon Klaa to pursue the heroes up to Sha Ka Ree.

THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

Kronos One

Chancellor Gorkon's flagship, attacked and disabled by Chang's invisible Bird-of-Prey. The model is supposed to be a K't'inga class, as first seen in TMP.

Chang's Bird-of-Prey

A new prototype with the revolutionary technology to fire while being cloaked. The main cause of all the troubles in the movie.

Besides this, there's an additional scene (only present in the VHS and DVD versions, but removed for the Blu-ray) where a Starfleet Colonel makes a presentation for a covert operation to rescue Kirk and McCoy from Rura Penthe. The charts show some new ships involved in the operation: USS Ahwahnee NCC-2048, USS Eagle NCC-956, USS Emden NCC-1856 and USS Endeavour NCC-1895. The already discussed Excelsior and Potemkin also appear in the charts. However, the names are rather illegible on-screen, and anyway, this scene doesn't seem to belong to the "definitive version" of the movie. So its canonicity is debatable.

[whirligig-girl]

ship poll

to make room for the poll i had to get rid of a bunch of ships i wanted to include--Deep Space 9/Terok Nor, the Refit Constitution Class U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A, the Kelvin Timeline U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A, the Sovereign Class. So it's down to just the starfleet hero ships in each tv series.

A few other runner ups i'd liked to have included for their significance: Excelsior class U.S.S. Excelsior NX-2000 (it was arguably a hero ship in Star Trek VI since it's captained by a main character, and it is clearly designed to be The Next Hero Ship even in the movie it appears in), the Infinity (the cloaked temporally shielded ship in Prodigy Season 2), the Enterprise-F (which is an enterprise but has a minor role ultimately), and the H.M.S. Bounty (Klingon bird of prey) from Star Trek IV, which serves as the hero ship for its entire movie.

[pundus]

"Time Again"

Time and time again, Starfleet would attempt to replicate the success of the original Constitution-Class and it's refit, but few if ever were as successful as the original. The Vesper-Class was an attempt to combine the Excelsior-Class's ubiquity in a smaller Constitution-esque frame, developed alongside the Ambassador. It wasn't very successful

[theamateurreviewer]

Review: USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Refit and NCC-1701-A

Rating: 8/10

Usually redesigns of classic, fan favorite Things often end up looking very terrible, or ruin the appeal of the original. Examples of this can be found all across media, but especially in long-running franchises, like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Fallout. But the Constitution Refit succeeds where many other redesigns fail.

The Constitution Refit of the Motion Picture Era has always been a fan favorite of starship designs in Star Trek. For this review, I'll be rolling together both the 1701 and 1701-A of the films, simply for simplicity's sake. A reasonable design of one of the classics of science fiction, my faults lay less with the design itself and more with its usage in the films.

There will be spoilers below the six Original Series films, from The Motion Picture to Undiscovered Country.

Strengths:

When the films were announced, the original shooting model for The Original Series was not up to the task of being on the big picture. The ship could only be filmed from the right side, as the left side was marred by the wiring used to light the model. Not only that, but the original model was not detailed enough, and would look very flat on a film screen.

This new model had all of the bells and whistles that made ships in Star Wars, to which Star Trek: The Motion Picture was developed in response to, so special. Gone were the basic interior lights and spinning domes on the warp nacelles, and in their place were the realistic and downright beautiful lighting and colors of the Refit.

Watching the beginning of The Motion Picture, as Admiral Kirk's shuttlepod approaches and circles the Enterprise, as well as when the Enterprise leaves spacedock, one might feel that there's a little too much fan service going on. However, seeing all of the lights flash on across the hull, revealing the new design of the hull numbers, and the new, glowing deflector dish, it is a sight to behold. Say what you will about the films themselves, the model makers produced nothing but bangers all series long.

Weaknesses:

After the Enterprise's meaningful sacrifice in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, there were theories about what ship would be in the next film. Of course, Kirk and the gang would end up stealing a Klingon Bird of Prey and christening her Bounty, but it was by the end of the film that Kirk was presented with... another Constitution-class with a new hull number?

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock introduced six new major designs for starships, many of which would become mainstays of the franchise, especially the USS Excelsior (Excelsior-class) and USS Grissom (Oberth-class). The former of these exemplified the new era of design, and was expected to become the next hero ship of the series. Unfortunately, however, we were simply left with a repaint of the original model, and what could have been the new face of the franchise was relegated to a secondary character

[tmblriscompleteshit]

End of History - art by Jetfreak-7

In 2293, on her final cruise, the USS Enterprise-A heralds an era of change as the torch of one generation is entrusted to the next.

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The Final Voyage by Robert Wilde

[chernobog13]

All the Enterprises, pre-Picard Season 3.

[defconprime]